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Clarity Unit Planner
Purpose:
This unit summary tool builds teacher thinking agility in adjusting instruction to meet the needs of all learners
by summarizing the many unit details into a one page document identifying the tools that fuel differentiated
instruction; assessment, feedback, and then “next step” goal setting.
Goals (teacher learning goals for this planning tool):
1. I can make precise and explicit connections between the learning goals and the assessments students
complete in a unit of study.
2. I can plan a variety of types, forms, and sources of feedback throughout each unit.
3. I can articulate to students specifically what an assessment will measure (content knowledge, skills,
thinking, prior knowledge, vocabulary, and conceptual understanding).
4. I can identify tools and routines to enable students to monitor their own learning throughout a unit.
Step One: Make Visible the Unit Plan
1. Place content and skill learning goals in center of circle. Abbreviate the goals to save space. For example,
change, “I can write a five paragraph persuasive paper.” to “persuasive paper”. Number each goal.
2. Identify a large scale understanding goal that relates to the unit. Write this in sentence or question form
(Essential Question) and label this goal A.
3. Identify major assessments that students will complete in the unit and place the names of these assessments
around the outside of the circle, numbering the assessments in the order that they are completed.
Step Two: Connect the Learning Goals to the Assessments
1. Write the number of the Learning Goal next to the Assessment that assesses the Learning Goal. Only write
the numbers of Learning Goals that students will get feedback on from the assessment.
Step Three: Identify the Type, Form, and Source of Feedback
1. For each assessment, use the feedback pyramid to identify the type
(informal, formal), form (formal, informal), and source (self, peer,
expert/teacher) that students will receive during the assessment.
Feedback Cycle
Step Four: Reflect
Consider the following questions:
1. Are all Learning Goals assessed in at least one assessment? How many
times in the unit are goals assessed? Should certain goals be assessed more
than once to show growth?
2. Is there a variety of types, forms, and sources of feedback throughout the
unit?
Step Five: Plan for Diversity
Formal, Written, Self= FWS
Mark Assessments with type,
form
and source
of 10/7/2013
feedback. 1
Rhonda
Bondie,
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2
1. Note how students will be grouped.
2. Identify where supports and extensions will be needed.
3. Mark if an assessment will be differentiated and associate the learning goals assessed.
Rhonda Bondie, 10/7/2013 2
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Clarity Unit Planner
Teacher: ___________________
Subject: ___________________
Grade: ____________________
Unit: _____________________
Understanding Goal
Content Knowledge/ Skills Taught/Assessed
(number each learning goal)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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The Pyramid and Ladder of Feedback
One way to organize the types, forms and sources of
feedback is by using the Feedback Pyramid. Teachers
and other facilitators of learning use it to both plan and
reflect on their assessments. With it they combine
different key components to create a variety of
ongoing feedback moments and methods:
Type: Formal vs. Informal
The top of the pyramid describes the type of feedback
learners can receive. A quick informal conversation
with a teacher, a note from a peer, a review of one's
own work, or an explanation from a parent might
support understanding more than a formal grade on a
project. When we create feedback in our classrooms,
striking a healthy balance between informal and formal feedback is key. Too much informal
feedback and students may have difficulty drawing judgments about their progress. Too much
formal feedback and students may become extrinsically motivated by grades.
Form: Written and Verbal
Assessments should offer feedback to the learner using a variety of forms. For example, a
teacher may write feedback in the margins of students' journals or speak with students to give
feedback, individually or in small groups. Perhaps there are other forms of feedback thinking of
Learning Profiles using MI theory or learning styles. Creating a variety of forms that
communicate useful information to the learner is a key element in crafting feedback.
Source: Self, Peer, and Teacher
Assessments should leverage many different sources of feedback. The teacher is not the only
source of information in a classroom. Students can offer valuable feedback to each other.
How is this pyramid used?
Some teachers use it to reflect on their various assessments. A teacher might say, "Well I've got
many assessments like pop quizzes that are formal and give written feedback to the student from
me the teacher." This pyramid urges that teacher to complement those assessments (or replace
some) with informal, verbal, peer and self-assessment strategies. Teachers also use the pyramid
as a planning device. In order to create a rounded assessment experience for students, a teacher
might ask, "Can I create some informal, verbal, self-assessments early on in the unit? What
might be some informal, written, peer assessments? What types of formal assessments can I
build?" In this sense, the pyramid becomes a tool that teachers use to create feedback to support
understanding.
(*) This text, used to describe the Feedback, is an excerpt (with some modification) from the
Assessing for Understanding, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, WIDE
World course designed by Daniel Wilson and taught by Heidi Goodrich.
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